Columbus zoo celebrates Elephant Day with pregnancy announcement

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is celebrating World Elephant Day by announcing that one of its Asian elephant moms is expecting.

Zoo officials said Saturday that 31-year-old Phoebe is expecting her fourth calf and her third in Columbus, where she came to live in 2002. Officials say she’s in her third trimester and is expected to give birth in December. Elephant pregnancies last about 22 months.

The identity of the baby’s father is a mystery that will be solved with DNA after Phoebe’s calf is born. Phoebe was inseminated with sperm from Columbus Zoo partner Hank and an elephant from another zoo. She also was bred by Hank.

Phoebe’s previous two deliveries in 2004 and 2009 are the only two Asian elephants to be born at Columbus Zoo.

Police: 2 found dead inside home after SWAT standoff

SOUTH EUCLID

Police say two men described as persons of interest in a doctor’s slaying have been found dead inside a home after a 12-hour SWAT standoff outside Cleveland.

South Euclid Police Chief Kevin Nietert said Saturday morning it’s unclear how the two men died and that the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is gathering evidence. The men haven’t been identified.

The standoff with a regional SWAT team began around 7:30 p.m. Friday when an armored vehicle breached the front door. Nietert says someone in the home responded with high-powered rifle fire and that officers returned fire.

The SWAT team was helping serve a search warrant at a South Euclid property owned by 59-year-old Richard Warn, a doctor found dead Thursday evening from multiple gunshot wounds at his home in Beachwood.

Ohio charter school operator sells off assets

AKRON

A pioneering for-profit charter school operator in Ohio has gotten out of the business.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports White Hat Management has quietly sold off the last of its contracts to run charter schools. The company was founded in 2000 by Akron industrialist David Brennan. Since then, he and White Hat wielded considerable power and influence in the formation of publicly funded but privately run charter schools.

Contracts for White Hat’s single remaining online school and eight of its 10 “Life Skills” centers have been sold. The remaining two schools will close.

GOP governors’ group stands by ad Cordray says is false

COLUMBUS

The Republican Governors Association says it stands by an ad airing on Ohio television stations alleging a consumer agency formerly led by Democratic gubernatorial nominee Richard Cordray secretly collected and left vulnerable Americans’ personal financial data.

The group stuck by its “Cordray Failed” spots despite a cease and desist letter Cordray’s lawyers sent Friday demanding stations pull the spot. The Democrat charges the ads contain false assertions and statements the association concedes have no factual back-up.

Vice president headed to Ohio to promote tax cuts

CINCINNATI

Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to Ohio this week to promote the Trump administration’s tax cuts.

The White House says Pence will be in Cincinnati on Tuesday.

America First Policies, an organization that promotes President Donald Trump’s policies, says it’s sponsoring the event at a downtown Cincinnati hotel.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports Pence also will host a fundraiser for Republican Mike DeWine’s campaign for governor.

Pence has been traveling the nation in recent weeks to promote the tax cuts.